talkingDigital

Cybercriminals have been making waves through internet scams in recent years. The risk of having your identity stolen due to online information loss has increased exponentially and a remarkable one in four people will experience identity theft. Your information could be stolen and then sold online for large amounts of money, allowing cybercriminals to open credit cards and more in your name.

69% of Americans are more afraid of having their credit card information hacked than nearly any other type of information theft. In 2014, roughly half of Americans, 47%, experienced a credit card hack. So how can you avoid becoming one of these numbers? The key is in digital security.

Verify Links

One of the easiest ways to gain access to your computer and information is through downloads or links in your email. Even if a link comes to you from a friend, it could mean their account was hacked and the link is a trojan horse or worse. Opening links without verifying with the friend that their account is stable can lead to a potential computer infection and information loss. Always verify links and downloads before making your computer vulnerable.

Limit Information Release

Every piece of information you release about yourself becomes a part of the puzzle online hackers are putting together. By finding your full name, date of birth, physical address and credit card numbers, a hacker is fully equipped to begin opening accounts in your name, in effect ruining your credit score and finances.

To avoid becoming a part of this growing statistic, be aware of how you are releasing your personal information. Avoid posting physical addresses, personal information or even your pet’s names on social media. All of these pieces of information can be used to crack your passwords and access your personal information.

Monitor Your Credit Report

Every year you are entitled to a free credit report from one of the three following companies, Equifax, TransUnion or Experian. These are the only three credit reporting companies, so be careful not to release your information to anyone else. If you have any reason to believe your information has been released or you were a part of a data breach, notifying these companies is critical.

A sign that your identity has been compromised could come in a number of ways. It could be health insurance benefits maxed out, strange charges on bank statements or a poor credit score. Contact one of the above companies to have them put a fraud alert on your account if you believe your information was compromised. This can help you save money and sanity during the identity reclamation process if you catch it early.

Related articles

• Children’s Identity Theft
• Guide to IRS Form 14039: Identity Theft Affidavit

When starting a business, most of us look to banks for financial means of operation.  Bank lending, however, has many hang-ups, can be tricky to navigate, and may be difficult to qualify for.  This makes our means for developing or gaining momentum in our business difficult—it may seem impossible to start or get ahead!

Did you know?  There is another option!

What is “Factoring”?

Factoring is a finance option that offers freedom that bank lending does not.  This means of financing is not so much a loan as a transfer of services.

Typically, a business would need to wait for the receipt of payment for either product or services rendered before financing more product, or funding operations to keep providing service.  When factoring is used, the need to waiting is removed!

A factoring company will take over for your business directly after the goods are sold or the service is rendered.  These companies pay cash to your business up front, then pursue the payment from clients independently.

Benefits of Factoring

Financing from factoring companies can be much easier to obtain than bank loans, because factoring is not based on your business’s credit history—it is based on the credit history of your clients.  This can be invaluable when starting a business from scratch, or building a business with prior credit problems.

With factoring, your business does not suffer from a “lag time” between overhead and profit, thus providing the financial freedom to grow your business and become more efficient.  Having access to the unlimited capital that factoring provides allows your business to grow exponentially without worry of running out of cash to pay your bills.  Some companies even advance up to 95% of invoices within as little as 24 hours.

Imagine, your wholesaler is offering a great discount on product if you act quickly, but you haven’t yet received the cash from all the credit card sales generated over the last few weeks, so you don’t have the capital to take advantage of the wholesale discount.  With factoring, this would never be a problem.

Beyond business growth, factoring companies are beneficial because they act in place of highly skilled employees, or even whole departments of employees, that your business won’t need to hire.  This alone will dramatically reduce overhead and eliminate stress over billing, account settlement, and client credit.  Additionally, your business will be more likely to attract and retain financially responsible clientele because of the factoring company’s collection process.  

Since factoring is not a loan of money, your business credit will appear to be more favorable when buying expensive equipment or making larger investments that do need to be financed.

Factoring provides a great option for small startups to grow quickly without limits.  Consider it as an option if you are developing a business!